I got up and poured myself more coffee, and warmed Quirk's up. Then I put the pot on the burner, sat down in my chair, and leaned back with my feet up.
'Do,' I said.
'Real name's Jeremy Franklin Nelson,' Quirk said. 'Ever seen him?'
'Seen his photograph,' I said. 'Never seen a movie.'
'Photo's enough,' Quirk said. 'You can see where the nickname came from.'
'I can,' I said.
'He's in town,' Quirk said, 'shooting a movie. Which you know.'
'As yet untitled,' I said.
'
'I'm adventurous,' I said. 'Sometimes I read other stuff.'
'Fucking media's treating this like it was the Lindbergh kidnapping.'
'Lotta media to fill,' I said.
'Too much,' Quirk said. 'Always was. Anyway, Jumbo is in town, travels with a bodyguard, an Indian.'
'A Native American?'
Quirk nodded.
'Like I said.'
'Could be an India Indian,' I said.
'This guy's American Indian,' Quirk said. 'Wait'll you get a load of him.'
'Dangerous?' I said.
'I dunno,' Quirk said. 'Looks good.'
'Bodyguard involved?' I said.
'In the crime? Not that I know of,' Quirk said.
'Press tells me that Jumbo raped and murdered a young woman and should be beheaded at once.'
'Yeah,' Quirk said. 'That's what they tell me, too. What everybody tells me.'
'You have doubts?'
Quirk shrugged.
'Here's what I know,' he said. 'Girl's name is Dawn Lopara, twenty years old, graduated last year from Bunker Hill Community College, was not employed.'
Quirk sipped some coffee.
'More sugar,' he said.
He went to the coffeemaker on the file cabinet and got some, and stirred it in, and sat back down. He took another sip and nodded.
'She's watching them shoot a scene outdoors on the Common, near Park Street Station, and Jumbo spots her. He sends a production assistant over to invite her to have lunch with him in the commissary. She's thrilled.'
'As I would be,' I said.
'Yeah,' Quirk said. 'Me too. So she has lunch with all the stars and the movie crew, and Jumbo gets her phone number and says maybe they can get together later, and she says oh-wow-yes.'
'Do you know she said that?'
'The oh-wow-yes?' Quirk said. 'No. So he calls her that night and she goes over to his hotel. They drink some champagne. They do some lines. They have sex. When they get through, they get dressed. Jumbo excuses himself for a moment while he goes to the bathroom. And while he's gone she lies back down on the bed and dies.'
'I was having sex with Jumbo Nelson,' I said, 'I might consider it myself.'
'It was after,' Quirk said.
'Maybe she died of shame,' I said.
'There was considerable bruising around the vaginal area,' Quirk said.
'Suggesting an, ah, accessory object?'
'ME isn't sure,' Quirk said. 'Maybe Jumbo really is jumbo.'
'Cause of death?' I said.
'ME thinks it's asphyxiation,' Quirk said. 'They found some ligature marks on her neck. But they don't seem entirely comfortable with how they got there.'
'They're not sure?' I said.
'No.'
'Aren't they supposed to be sure?' I said.
